Summer scorcher for fund sales

(September 2, 2005) Veterans of the mutual fund industry often bemoan the dog days of summer, when Canadians usually ignore their investments and concentrate on vacations. But that certainly hasn’t been the case this year.

IFIC today reported preliminary sales of approximately $1.75 billion for the month of August, following net sales of $1.9 billion in July and $1.8 billion in June.

“The industry’s net sales for the first eight months of 2005 are the highest since the same time period in 2001,” said Tom Hockin, IFIC’s President & CEO. “In addition, this was the best August for sales since 1997.”

IFIC estimates that net assets at the end of August will be in the range of $546 to $551 billion, up approximately 0.7% from last month.

Bank-owned firms led the way last month, paced by RBC Asset Management with net new sales of $486 million. “We’ve had our best summer ever,” says Brenda Vince, president, RBC Asset Management. “For June through August 2005, long-term net sales were over $1.4 billion, three times higher than the same period last year.”

TD Asset Management posted $378 million in net new sales, while BMO was third with $296 million.

CI Investments was in fourth spot, at $156 million. “We are fortunate to have large exposure to Canada, which has been one of the best-performing markets in the world,” said Stephen A. MacPhail, CI’s President and Chief Operating Officer.

AIC’s losing streak continued last month, with the firm reporting $191 million in net redemptions.

Filed by Doug Watt, Advisor.ca, doug.watt@advisor.rogers.com

(09/02/05)

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.